State DNR expert happy with northern herd regeneration

MADISON — The state Department of Natural Resources' big game ecologist is telling the agency's board that he's pleased to see the deer herd in Wisconsin's northern forest beginning to rebound.

Kevin Wallenfang told the board on Wednesday that the buck kill in the northern forest management zone was up 30 percent during last month's nine-day gun season.

The DNR has restricted the antlerless hunt in northern counties the last two years to help the herd recover from severe winters. Wallenfang said the agency asked hunters to be patient while the herd regenerated and it's good to see the numbers rebound.

Wallenfang made the remarks while summarizing the gun deer season for the board. Hunters killed 196,785 deer overall, down 6 percent from 2015.